The invention relates generally to the production of copies from a master or original.
More particularly, the invention relates to a method and arrangement for making high-quality copies of a strip of masters using a copier with a measuring system for the densities of the masters. Trial copies of the masters are produced and evaluated, and corrections to the amounts of copy light are thereupon made as necessary to optimize the copies. Data relating to the optimized amounts of copy light are stored in a memory and used in the production of additional copies from the masters. Such additional copies may be made without employment of a density measuring system.
A method and arrangement of the preceding type are used primarily for so-called party photographs or photographs of a similar nature. The photographer here presents the customer with a set of proofs or trial copies which are used to order additional copies of the same or different size. An advantage is that data on the amounts of copy light which were used for the proofs and yielded results satisfactory to the customer can be stored and used again for the production of additional copies. A high degree of similarity between the proofs and the additional copies is obtained in this manner.
Such a procedure is disclosed, for example, in the German patent 29 33 252 where the exposure corrections employed for the proofs are stored in a program carrier which is then placed in storage together with the roll of film used to make the proofs. The program carrier and the film are removed from storage only when additional copies are to be made.
The masters or originals here remain in the copying establishment so that the photographer is bound to a specific processing laboratory. This is generally unacceptable.
In order to make new copies when the proofs are unsatisfactory, the European patent application 0 177 857 proposes to store the exposure values used for the proofs in a magnetic memory, e.g., a floppy disc. The masters or negatives, which are in the form of a strip, are assigned numbers which correspond to the order of the masters on the strip and the exposure value or values for each master are stored in correlation to the number of the respective master. The number of a master is imprinted on the back of the corresponding proof and serves as an address for retrieval of the exposure value or values from the floppy disc. To find the stored exposure value or values for a particular master, it is thus necessary to have the corresponding proof with the imprinted number of the master. However, while the proof is available when it is unsatisfactory and a new proof must be made, this is not the case where the proof has been left with the customer as assurance that any additional copies ordered will be of a certain quality.